This is issue 4 of REMONTADA, an English football culture magazine published in September 2026. It is for readers interested in how English media shapes football narratives around clubs, players and national teams.
This is issue 4 of REMONTADA, an English football culture magazine published in September 2026. It is for readers interested in how English media shapes football narratives around clubs, players and national teams.
The upfront section introduces the magazine's theme: the media game behind football. It argues that every match becomes a story, every player a character, and every mistake a headline. The section uses the 1998 World Cup match between England and Argentina as an example, where David Beckham's red card became the defining narrative despite other key moments.
A feature called 'The Game Behind the Game' examines how media turns clubs into characters like 'giant', 'underdog' or 'money club', using Manchester City's transformation after 2008 as a case study. It also looks at how players are cast into roles such as 'star', 'prodigy' or 'flop', with Raheem Sterling's coverage around Euro 2016 as an example of media focus beyond performance.
The feature 'The Man They Blamed' focuses on David Beckham as a case study of media scapegoating. It details how The Mirror's pre-match headline 'PAYBACK TIME' gave way to '10 HEROIC LIONS, ONE STUPID BOY' after England's loss, and how Beckham became the national culprit despite multiple contributing factors. It then traces his redemption through The Guardian's 2001 headline 'the saving grace amid the mess' after his free-kick against Greece.
The feature 'When Is It Coming Home?' examines how English media sustains expectations across generations by referencing the 1966 World Cup win. It notes that since Euro '96, England's men have finished runners-up at two Euros and third at the 2026 World Cup, yet media continues to frame the team as on the brink of fulfilling its promise. The section uses The Guardian's 'The history boys' headline from July 2021 as an example of past success being used as a standard for later teams.